StreamYard vs api.video Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| StreamYard | api.video | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $44/mo | Custom |
| Number of plans | 3 | 5 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | flat-rate | usage-based |
Free
- StreamYard logo in your streams
- Streaming limits
- Limited storage
- Dark mode
- Local recordings - 2 hours/mo
- 6 on-screen participants
- 1 seat
Core
Popular- Full HD (1080p)
- No StreamYard logo on your streams
- Multistream - 3 destinations
- Logos, Overlays, Video clips, Backgrounds
- 10 on-screen participants
- Pre-recorded streams - 2 hours
- Unlimited streaming and recording
- Live streams are recorded
- Unlimited local recordings
- Custom RTMP destinations
- Guest destinations
- 50 hours of permanent storage
- Intro and Outro video
- AI clips
- Custom referral message
- +16 custom layouts
- Cloud recording
- Chat Overlay
- Clean thumbnails, no watermark
- AI Backgrounds
Advanced
- 4K (2160p) local recordings
- Multistream - 8 destinations
- Extra camera
- 15 backstage participants
- Pre-recorded streams - 4 hours
- On-Air webinars - 100 viewers
- Custom fonts
- Download transcripts
Video Encoding
- FREE for unlimited minutes
Video Hosting
- $0.00285 per minute of video stored
Video Delivery
- $0.0017 per minute of video delivered
Pay as you go
- 100 Upload API calls/min
- 200 Write API calls/min
- 500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 5 days)
- 99.999%
- Public Terms
- Credit Card, Apple Pay, SEPA (on request), Monthly Billing
- Customizable player
- Any video player (3rd party)
- HLS & MP4 output
- Upload by URL
- Custom domain
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- Concurrent Live Stream
- Simulcasting / Restreaming
- Live stream DVR functionality
- Record a live stream
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- 24/7 Live streaming
- Low-latency
- RTMPS and SRT protocols
- Video transcription
- Video translation
- Video summarization
- Generate Thumbnail
- Trimming / Clipping
- Watermark
- Captions
- Chapters
- Upload your own Thumbnail
- 1 month Analytics Retention
- 3 months Analytics Retention
- 12 months Analytics Retention
- Usage Analytics per Project
- Webhooks
- Metadata & video tagging
- Video analytics
- Data visualization
- Basic API Authentication
- Advanced API Authentication
- Private Video
- Private Live Stream
- Delegated Upload Tokens
- Domain referer playback restrictions
- AES Encryption 128bits
- Video Restore
- Ecosystem Catalog (see dedicated section)
- Direct Upload
- Progressive Upload
- Video Import Tool
- Delivery on the CDN (worldwide)
- Delivery on origin
- Backup & Recovery
- Accessing mezzanine files
- Normalization
- Analytics plugins for 3rd party players
- Built-in HTML5 player
- Native Android & iOS mobile player
- Screen & webcam recording SDKs
- CMS & no-code/low-code integrations
- API clients & SDKs
Enterprise plan
- 200 Upload API calls/min
- 1000 Write API calls/min
- 2500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 60 days) & Domain Referrer
- Isolated storage
- Security Reviews
- 99.999% + SLA credits
- Signed MSA, SLA, DPA
- Wire Transfer, Annual Billing, Payment schedules
- Customizable player
- Any video player (3rd party)
- HLS & MP4 output
- Upload by URL
- Custom domain
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- Concurrent Live Stream
- Simulcasting / Restreaming
- Live stream DVR functionality
- Record a live stream
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- 24/7 Live streaming
- Low-latency
- RTMPS and SRT protocols
- Video transcription
- Video translation
- Video summarization
- Generate Thumbnail
- Trimming / Clipping
- Watermark
- Captions
- Chapters
- Upload your own Thumbnail
- 1 month Analytics Retention
- 3 months Analytics Retention
- 12 months Analytics Retention
- Usage Analytics per Project
- Webhooks
- Metadata & video tagging
- Video analytics
- Data visualization
- Basic API Authentication
- Advanced API Authentication
- Private Video
- Private Live Stream
- Delegated Upload Tokens
- Domain referer playback restrictions
- AES Encryption 128bits
- Video Restore
- Ecosystem Catalog (see dedicated section)
- Direct Upload
- Progressive Upload
- Video Import Tool
- Delivery on the CDN (worldwide)
- Delivery on origin
- Backup & Recovery
- Accessing mezzanine files
- Normalization
- Analytics plugins for 3rd party players
- Built-in HTML5 player
- Native Android & iOS mobile player
- Screen & webcam recording SDKs
- CMS & no-code/low-code integrations
- API clients & SDKs
StreamYard vs api.video FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. StreamYard uses flat-rate pricing, while api.video goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. StreamYard: Sits in the mid-market of browser-based streaming tools — more expensive than bare-bones alternatives like Restream's entry tier, but cheaper than enterprise broadcast stacks. They're clearly targeting the prosumer and small creator segment, not agencies or large teams, which the 'individual use only' restriction makes explicit. api.video: They're positioning as the developer-friendly, transparent-pricing alternative to Mux and Cloudflare Stream — similar usage-based model but with free encoding as a differentiator. That $0 encoding line is a direct shot at competitors who charge for transcoding, targeting cost-conscious dev teams building video into their apps.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for StreamYard and api.video and let you know when something moves.